Faculty Profile: Justin Hayden

Justin Hayden serves as Chief Legal Officer for Pinnacle Financial Partners. Before joining Pinnacle in February 2018, he was a partner with the law offices of Smythe Huff & Hayden, P.C. (2008 - 2018) where his practice was focused in the areas of creditors’ rights, banking and financial services, creditor litigation, secured transactions, commercial law, representation of creditors in bankruptcy proceedings, as well as advising bank and financial institution clients in matters of corporate governance, compliance, regulatory, and (occasionally) employment law issues. Justin received his undergraduate degree from Belmont University, cum laude, and his juris doctorate from Mississippi College School of Law, with honors. He was a recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Legal Writing and Research, the Chief Justice Lenore L. Prather Award for Professionalism, was named Belmont University College of Law American Inn of Court (Inaugural) Outstanding Mentor of the Year (2014), Mid-South Super Lawyers Rising Stars® (2014-2021), and Nashville Business Journal’s Top 40 under 40 (2021). He is a member of the Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, and Nashville Bar Associations, as well as the Association of Corporate Counsel, Risk Management Association, and he currently serves on the TBA Corporate Counsel Executive Council, the American Bankers Association General Counsel Section, and the Tennessee Bankers Association Bank Counsel Committee.

Pinnacle Financial Partners provides a full range of banking, investment, trust, mortgage and insurance products and services designed for businesses and their owners and individuals interested in a comprehensive relationship with their financial institution. The firm is the No. 1 bank in the Nashville-Murfreesboro-Franklin MSA, according to 2021 deposit data from the FDIC. Pinnacle earned a spot on the 2021 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For® in the U.S., its fifth consecutive appearance. American Banker recognized Pinnacle as one of America’s Best Banks to Work For eight years in a row and No. 1 among banks with more than $10 billion in assets in 2020. Pinnacle owns a 49 percent interest in Bankers Healthcare Group (BHG), which provides innovative, hassle-free financial solutions to healthcare practitioners and other licensed professionals. Great Place to Work and FORTUNE ranked BHG No. 1 on its 2020 list of Best Workplaces in New York State in the small/medium business category. The firm began operations in a single location in downtown Nashville, TN, in October 2000 and has since grown to approximately $35.4 billion in assets as of June 30, 2021. As the second-largest bank holding company headquartered in Tennessee, Pinnacle operates in 14 primarily urban markets across the Southeast.